Charles J. Suck was an 18th-century composer, oboist, and flutist who was active in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

during the 1780s. The ''

European Magazine ''The European Magazine'' (sometimes referred to as ''European Magazine'') was a monthly magazine published in London. Eighty-nine semi-annual volumes were published from 1782 until 1826. It was launched as the ''European Magazine, and London Rev ...

'' described him as "proficient on both the oboe and the German flute." He is particularly remembered for his ''Trio no. 1 in C major''.

Biography

Not much is known about Suck's background, with his date and place of birth currently unknown. Some evidence suggests that he may have been of central European descent. One of the earliest mentions of Suck was a notice for a benefit concert given by

Johann Christian Fischer Johann Christian Fischer (c. 1733 – 29 April 1800) was a German composer and oboist, one of the best-known oboe soloists in Europe during the 1770s. Employed as a music copyist and theatre director for the Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin at Ludwi ...

on 16 May 1781 which described Suck as a "scholar" of Fischer. Suck and Fischer played in several more London concerts together during the 1780s. In 1784 Suck performed a double concerto with fellow oboist

Friedrich Ramm Friedrich Ramm (1744–1813) was a German oboist for whom Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart wrote several works. Ramm was principal oboist in the orchestra of Charles Theodore, Elector of Bavaria in Munich and in Mannheim, where Mozart first met him in 1777 ...

and in May and June of that year performed in the

Handel Commemoration The Handel festival or "Commemoration" took place in Westminster Abbey between 26 May and 5 June 1784, to commemorate the twenty-fifth anniversary of the death of George Frideric Handel in 1759. The commemoration was organized by John Montagu, ...

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...

and the

Pantheon Pantheon may refer to: * Pantheon (religion), a set of gods belonging to a particular religion or tradition, and a temple or sacred building Arts and entertainment Comics *Pantheon (Marvel Comics), a fictional organization * ''Pantheon'' (Lone St ...

. It was also the year that his set of six trios was published; two each for

oboe The oboe ( ) is a type of double reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites. The most common oboe plays in the treble or soprano range. A ...

flute The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...

and

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

, with violin and

cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a Bow (music), bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), t ...

. Melodious and well crafted, the trios, particularly the first one, became popular chamber performance pieces during the latter part of the 18th century.

George IV George IV (George Augustus Frederick; 12 August 1762 – 26 June 1830) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from the death of his father, King George III, on 29 January 1820, until his own death ten y ...

, then the

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers ...

, was notably an exponent of the pieces. The last known correspondence surrounding Suck is a May 1789 article in the ''

Public Advertiser The ''Public Advertiser'' was a London newspaper in the 18th century. The ''Public Advertiser'' was originally known as the ''London Daily Post and General Advertiser'', then simply the ''General Advertiser'' consisting more or less exclusively o ...

'' which stated that Suck was unable to appear at a concert (18 May 1789) at the Hanover Square Rooms where he was supposed to premiere an overture. He had apparently broken his right arm at a gentleman's musical party earlier that month and was unable to perform. After this point, no accounts of performances by Suck or compositions by Suck have been found. Scholars have speculated that he may have moved away from London or that his accident had something to do with the end of his career.

References

*Peter Platt and Richard Platt. "Charles J. Suck", ''

Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' is an encyclopedic dictionary of music and musicians. Along with the German-language ''Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart'', it is one of the largest reference works on the history and theo ...

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

2007 {{DEFAULTSORT:Suck, Charles J. English composers English classical oboists Male oboists English classical flautists Year of birth missing Year of death missing